Nissan to Promote Yamauchi to COO

Tokyo, April 23 (Jiji Press)--Nissan Motor Co. <7201> said Tuesday that Chief Competitive Officer Yasuhiro Yamauchi, 63, will be promoted to chief operating officer, a post that has been vacant since November 2013.

The appointment will take effect May 16, along with other senior management appointments announced Tuesday. Senior Vice President Asako Hoshino and two others were named new executive vice presidents.

Nissan hopes that the appointments will help "improve and strengthen governance and stabilize operations," the automaker said in a statement.

Nissan has an agreement with Renault SA to accept an official of the French partner in the COO or higher position.

Renault apparently demanded such a post based on the agreement, but Nissan did not obey. It named Chief Quality Officer Christian Vandenhende, from Renault, as vice chief operating officer.